Mad Dog
by FemL
Summary: Her world was the snarl of a feral dog, the sound of a gunshot, the reek of alcohol. The wailing sirens, a harbinger of authority, always nipping at her heels like a hungry beast. Louise has always lived for one person: her little sister. But despite the hordes of undead swarming the streets, Louise and her kid sister, Elizabeth find that survival is still all that matters. DarylOC


Mad Dog

Her world was the snarl of a feral dog, the sound of a gunshot, the reek of alcohol. The wailing sirens, a harbinger of authority, always nipping at her heels like a hungry beast. It was gasping for breath on a cold night and bruises blooming on sweat-covered skin. She had expected that things would change eventually, that her restless feet would slow and she would settle. And things certainly did change. The world had turned into a hellhole, with a shit-ton of undead freaks [that all wanted to gnaw your face off] as its denizens.

Yet, as she struggled to catch her breath, she wondered if they really had. Sure, the faces of her pursuers had changed - the sirens and whirling lights were now guttural growls and grabbing hands, but no matter the appearance, they still played the part of her shadow. Havoc still followed her like a loyal companion. She still relished the carnage that she immersed herself in. The world might have gotten a new face, but it was fundamentally the same - as fucked up and rotten as ever.

Shoving off the cool brick of the wall behind her, she exhaled sharply. She was alone tonight. No canine resided beside her, as one usually did. There had been no need to bring them along for such an easy run, she had rationalized that morning, and she was always hesitant to leave her little sister alone. Bile rose in her throat at the ever-present possibility of the little girl turning into a freak flitted across her mind. Pushing away those nasty thoughts, she chose to focus on other things; the unheeded cries for oxygen made by her lungs, the needle-sharp pain resonating through her shins, the near-deafening rush of blood in her ears.

All of it reminded her that she was still alive. It reminded her that she still had someone to return to, to protect.

Bits of gravel skid from beneath her feet as she made a sharp right. A hiss slid between grinding teeth as she kept herself from falling with now busted palms, carrying through with the turn. As the warm lights of the safe house brightened the horizon, she briefly allowed a slower pace. Slinking up to the second floor of the rotting house, by the of a series of jumps and piled trashcans, she slipped through the broken window.

"Liz?" Creeping over to the cot, she gently prodded the young girl cocooned in several layers of patchwork blankets. "You need to wake up, now, Liz."

"...Lu?" Sleepily squirming beneath the pile of cloth, Elizabeth peered up at her older sister with dream-ridden eyes. As the image of her wide-eyed, filth-covered older sister sunk in, a mix of dread and alarm settled like a stone in the girl's gut. "What's wrong?" With grumbles of protest from the pair of shepherds sleeping beside her, Elizabeth shed the comfort of the sheets and of her dreams.

"We need to go," Louise urged, the urgency in her voice not hidden by her lack of breath. "Get up and pack what you can. Quickly, now."

Stumbling out of bed, Elizabeth felt nervousness claim her limbs. Slick sweat coated her hands, her face; her legs turned to jelly. But it was when she heard the first scratching, pounding sound on the door down the hall reached her ears that she really felt scared. It wasn't the scared she experienced when she had a nightmare, or when she had been locked in that dark closet for a day. It was marrow-deep scared, the kind a man felt when he was about to die. The kind her sister couldn't protect her from. Warm brown eyes flickered over to her sister, who seemed unaffected by their impending demise.

Louise headed straight for their rations; Elizabeth for the family photos, the doggie toys, her grandmother's quilt. Time was running short now, the wooden door slowly giving way to the grabbing, hungry hands of the walkers outside. As she packed, Elizabeth thought her sister was impervious to fear, not noticing her older sister's shallow, panicked breathing, or the new layer of sweat on her forehead.

The low growls of the German Shepherds was drowned out by the gurgling of the reanimated dead. Louise whistled sharply, recalling the defensive dogs, as she tossed the last can of beans into her pack. "Liz, you ready?"

"Ah, almost - I need to get the picture of Mama and Pa," Elizabeth breathed, hurrying down the hall and into the kitchen.

It wasn't much longer until Louise heard the scream. She dashed down the row of doors, desperation in every heavy footfall. Flipping out the small switchblade that she kept on her person at all times, Louise plunged the thin blade into the nearest walker's head. Teeth bared in animalistic rage, she shouted for Elizabeth to go. Stumbling back into the bedroom, Elizabeth clumsily gathered up as many bags as her slight frame could carry. "Lu! Come on!"

Grabbing the photograph that her sister had risked herself for, Louise shoved away the encroaching walker and followed Elizabeth. The dogs obediently trailed after her.

"Out the window, Liz. Go!" Louise ordered, slamming the door on the pursuing walkers. The not-yet-a-teenager did as she was told, climbing through the open hole, helping the large dogs out onto the fire escape. A steady stream of profanity poured from Louise's mouth, as she felt the bloodied fingernails of the walkers scrape down the wood between them. Exhaling sharply, Louise abandoned her post at the door and scooped up as many bags as she could manage before the door's strength failed her.

"To the car! To the car!" Louise hissed, joining her sister outside. Relishing how the cool night air felt on her skin, she followed the dogs down the haphazard pile of boxes against the building. Elizabeth stumbled down the fire escape.

The sisters hurried to the safety of the old truck that Louise had hijacked early in the pandemic. And was she glad she had. Sliding into the driver's seat, Louise fumbled with the keys. It was funny how fear made hands useless. Another curse slipped from Louise's lips, now raw and bleeding from her nervous chewing, as Elizabeth found her way into the passenger seat. The shepherds clambered into the back of the truck, settling silently in the metal bed. Without allowing another heartbeat to pass, Louise slammed on the gas pedal with adrenaline-fueled strength and headed for the country.

As the cityscape shrank behind the small family, brown eyes began to give in to the temptation of sleep. Elizabeth had fought the urge to doze with all her might, not wanting to leave her sister alone with the silence after such a night. The warmth from the looted blanket penetrated her tense muscles, and Elizabeth found it increasingly difficult.

"Get some sleep, Liz. I'll wake you when we get somewhere," Louise informed her little sister, tired eyes not leaving the road.

"...Where's somewhere?" Liz mumbled, big brown doe-eyes flickering closed as sleep claimed them.

"I don't know, kid." Louise admitted to the air, as her only human companion had drifted to sleep. Grey eyes flickered over to her kid sister, whose once pudgy face was pressed against the window at an awkward angle. A small, vaguely sad smile touched at the woman's lips. "I don't know."

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Hope you all enjoyed. This chapter is a trial run for a story I've been playing with and I decided to post it and see how it fairs on FFnet. So, the life of this story definitely depends on how much feedback I get. Tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading!


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